That's a good parallel. Taking crazy drugs they advertise on TV can have tons of awful side effects, and signing up for FreeCreditReport.com shows Experian that you don't read the fine print, and are therefore probably a higher credit risk.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: My 5 oint plan or copyright and patents.
Fair enough, but the spouse and children will still get pending commission checks, right?
If copyright is meant to promote creation, then there has to be some sort of guarantee that it doesn't just up and disappear. The same benefits aren't extended to salesmen because no one ever thought there needed to be a legal incentive for people to sell.
Re: Re: Re: My 5 oint plan or copyright and patents.
I agree - we need to be able to transfer rights. For example, what if an artist creates a work and is hit by a bus the next day? The spouse and children of the author should be able to enjoy the benefits of the limited monopoly.
The real problem is extension. To extend the copyright, you should have to make substantial changes. Fixing a typo doesn't mean a new copyright. To balance things out, set a standard for extending the copyright. If you change it by X amount, you get a new copyright. But that means that changing by X is a totally new work, so anything that's X+1 is transformative fair use, and is legal for anyone to do.
It's not really fair to use Cory Doctorow as an argument - he has legions of digital hippies following him who would buy his books just to piss off the people claiming his model can't possibly work.
I totally agree with you that a quality product is required for a quality experience. But I don't agree that the content has to have a price to have value.
If you are selling the experience of a movie at the theater, with comfortable seats, a great screen, and a nice sound system, obviously the movie itself has value to you because you have to have something to show on your screen, to play through your speakers. How is this value any different if the price of the movie is $0, $10, or $10,000?
I think they'll fund public research if it's high quality and timely. Businesses spend tons on understanding the market they're in. If the newspaper can deliver that more efficiently, they'll definitely pay.
The thing that makes the most sense to me for newspapers is to look to the business world for paid research. Certainly it is valuable for a business to be kept up to date on things that relate to their business.
And the really hard part of journalism is doing that research - developing relationships with key players, knowing who to ask when something comes up, knowing how to relate data from various sources. Actually writing about it is not nearly as difficult. If the business would pay for the research, for the up-to-the-minute info, actually putting together the news stories becomes pretty cheap. And advertising can probably make that worthwhile.
Really nice write-up of the whole thing from someone who knows what she's talking about. Reminds us that ebooks could be a loss-leader for all of Amazon's inventory rather than just Kindles.
Amazon has been pretty quiet about a lot of Kindle-related details. And yes, they could be using their position as the only vendor of a new Kindle to set the prices high enough to make a nice profit. But they have to know it can't last.
Being THE place to go for ebooks is a good long-term position. Taking advantage of having the best (and I use that term loosely) ebook reader is great in the short-term.
I don't believe that Amazon is selling ebooks as a loss-leader for Kindles. Electronics are usually really low-margin - you don't make much profit on each device. Electronic files, on the other hand, are usually high-margin.
This whole thing is only barely about price. It's about who gets to set the rules. Amazon botched the handling of this pretty badly, pissing off a lot of authors in the process, but neither side really cares about what the price is, or what the consumers want.
Macmillan isn't used to a retailer trying to make the rules, and Amazon isn't interested in being treated as a retailer. This is likely to get a lot worse before it gets better, but it's a really interesting time in publishing.
Wire up DC like Verizon has done with FIOS in all sorts of other places? Sure, someone could do it. I don't know anything about what would be involved in actually doing it, so I won't speculate on whether it might be cost-effective.
But if we're changing laws for net neutrality, why don't we change some laws to give tax breaks for setting up this kind of infrastructure that encourages competition?
If only there were options. One of the things Mike mentions a lot (and I was a little surprised not to see it in this article) is that the real way to promote net neutrality is to promote broadband competition.
For example, I live in Washington, DC, hardly a backwater. I can get broadband from either Comcast or Verizon (And just DSL, not FIOS). Some parts of DC have RCN, a smaller provider, but not my street.
So it's not like I have a lot of choice. And as I said, I'm in a big city. More rural areas are lucky to have one provider.
Seems like it would be a ton easier. They already have to draw the fade between shirts, why not draw all of it? But I don't know anything about video editing, so I could be totally wrong.
On the post: FTC Finally Forces FreeCreditReport.com To Be Honest In Its Advertising
Re:
On the post: Book Publishers Circulating 'Talking Points' To Counter Arguments That Ebook Prices Need To Go Lower
Share that email?
On the post: Public Knowledge Pushes Five Point Plan For Copyright Reform
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: My 5 oint plan or copyright and patents.
If copyright is meant to promote creation, then there has to be some sort of guarantee that it doesn't just up and disappear. The same benefits aren't extended to salesmen because no one ever thought there needed to be a legal incentive for people to sell.
On the post: Public Knowledge Pushes Five Point Plan For Copyright Reform
Re: Re: Re: My 5 oint plan or copyright and patents.
The real problem is extension. To extend the copyright, you should have to make substantial changes. Fixing a typo doesn't mean a new copyright. To balance things out, set a standard for extending the copyright. If you change it by X amount, you get a new copyright. But that means that changing by X is a totally new work, so anything that's X+1 is transformative fair use, and is legal for anyone to do.
On the post: Research Shows Unauthorized Digital Books Leads To 'Significant Jump In Sales'
Re: Re: Re: Re: Gravy
On the post: Understanding What's Scarce And What's Not...
Re: Re: Re:
If you are selling the experience of a movie at the theater, with comfortable seats, a great screen, and a nice sound system, obviously the movie itself has value to you because you have to have something to show on your screen, to play through your speakers. How is this value any different if the price of the movie is $0, $10, or $10,000?
On the post: Ten Good Reasons To Buy: The Newspaper Edition
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Ten Good Reasons To Buy: The Newspaper Edition
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And the really hard part of journalism is doing that research - developing relationships with key players, knowing who to ask when something comes up, knowing how to relate data from various sources. Actually writing about it is not nearly as difficult. If the business would pay for the research, for the up-to-the-minute info, actually putting together the news stories becomes pretty cheap. And advertising can probably make that worthwhile.
On the post: Book Publishing Industry Just Now Realizing That Change Is Turbulent?
Re: Re: Re: Not about Kindles, it's about control
Really nice write-up of the whole thing from someone who knows what she's talking about. Reminds us that ebooks could be a loss-leader for all of Amazon's inventory rather than just Kindles.
On the post: Book Publishing Industry Just Now Realizing That Change Is Turbulent?
Re: Re: Not about Kindles, it's about control
Being THE place to go for ebooks is a good long-term position. Taking advantage of having the best (and I use that term loosely) ebook reader is great in the short-term.
On the post: Book Publishing Industry Just Now Realizing That Change Is Turbulent?
Not about Kindles, it's about control
This whole thing is only barely about price. It's about who gets to set the rules. Amazon botched the handling of this pretty badly, pissing off a lot of authors in the process, but neither side really cares about what the price is, or what the consumers want.
Macmillan isn't used to a retailer trying to make the rules, and Amazon isn't interested in being treated as a retailer. This is likely to get a lot worse before it gets better, but it's a really interesting time in publishing.
On the post: Massive Disconnect: Paywall Analysis Claims It's Reasonable To Expect 66% Of Readers To Pay
Re: Re: Not a good reason to pay - bad writing
Still ridiculous, though.
On the post: Massive Disconnect: Paywall Analysis Claims It's Reasonable To Expect 66% Of Readers To Pay
Not a good reason to pay - bad writing
And I suspect that 33% coming from searches is a low estimate.
On the post: Once Again, Be Careful What You Wish For With Net Neutrality Once The Lobbyists Get Done With It
Re: Re: Re: This will never end..
But if we're changing laws for net neutrality, why don't we change some laws to give tax breaks for setting up this kind of infrastructure that encourages competition?
On the post: Once Again, Be Careful What You Wish For With Net Neutrality Once The Lobbyists Get Done With It
Re: This will never end..
For example, I live in Washington, DC, hardly a backwater. I can get broadband from either Comcast or Verizon (And just DSL, not FIOS). Some parts of DC have RCN, a smaller provider, but not my street.
So it's not like I have a lot of choice. And as I said, I'm in a big city. More rural areas are lucky to have one provider.
On the post: Publishers Beginning To Recognize The Value Of Free... Even As They Fight $10 eBooks
Re: Re: Re: Re: Competition
And when you run across someone else with that mindset, send them my way.
On the post: Publishers Beginning To Recognize The Value Of Free... Even As They Fight $10 eBooks
Re: Re: Competition
On the post: Publishers Beginning To Recognize The Value Of Free... Even As They Fight $10 eBooks
Competition
On the post: Distributor Claims Microsoft Terminated Partnership After Reps Refused To Take Part In Sex/Drug Party
New Mac ad
On the post: Honda Sued For Trademark Infringement For Suggesting It Wants To Save The Earth
Re: Re: Bought vs drew the shirts?
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